Engineering & Automotive

Case Studies

Apprentice of the Month: February

Every month we’re selecting two sectors and awarding apprentices who go above and beyond in their on and off-the-job training. February’s sectors are Engineering & Automotive and Teaching & Education.

Jack Northmore, an Engineering & Automotive apprentice with Demon International, has been awarded Apprentice of the Month for showing outstanding commitment throughout his Level 2 apprenticeship. He is always on time, despite helping out on the family farm in the mornings before work, and has an excellent work ethic.

We stole Jack for 5 minutes to talk apprenticeships…

Best thing about your apprenticeship?My apprenticeship has been good fun; you’re more involved in your learning than you are at school. I like the practical approach to training and the fact that you can earn while working towards a nationally-recognised qualification.

What are your career ambitions?Now I’ve completed my Level 2 I’d definitely like to go on to the Level 3 and carry on building on what I’ve learnt so far.

How do you rate Skills Group?I would recommend Skills Group to anyone looking to start an apprenticeship!

Bradley Cox, John Card Accident Repair Centre

Bradley Cox was always interested in pursuing a more practical based route towards a career rather than an academic one. He knew he wanted to get straight into something and has always had an interest in cars.

After speaking to a family friend who was looking for an apprentice, Bradley was taken on as a car body repair apprentice.

I was lucky to be given the opportunity to become an apprentice. I was intrigued by it, and I’m someone who believes in trying everything – so I am glad I did. The more and more I worked in car body repair, the more and more I loved it.

After 18 months Bradley moved to John Card Accident Repair Centre, where he began working towards his Level 2 in Spray Painting.

I love my job, there’s so much satisfaction from seeing a car come in damaged and being able to work on it to help bring it back to where it should be.

There’s a great team here, we all work really hard for each other. The apprenticeship has helped me learn so many skills, not just spray painting. I can chip in on other stages of the damage repair too.

Ryan Harris, Demon

I didn’t know what I wanted to do after my GCSEs but I knew I wanted to start earning some money. When I spoke to Careers South West, they put me in touch with Skills Group who told me about the different apprenticeships I could do. I’d enjoyed engineering at school so went for a Level 2 Fabrication and Welding apprenticeship with Demon.

I completed my apprenticeship in a year and was offered a job as Demon’s Service Engineer. I’m now running the service department, looking after the repair and maintenance of our pressure washers, and I’m training up two other engineers.

I would definitely recommend an apprenticeship – you get paid to learn!

About Us

Skills Group has over 20 years’ experience in delivering apprenticeships, working with top local employers to offer sustainable employment opportunities. We are one of the country's largest independent training providers, one of very few to be recognised as 'Outstanding' by Ofsted, and in the top 5% nationally for our apprentice success rates.